The Note Card Exchange

Another TTC EXCHANGE has been taking place this month with BIG thanks to Chelsea again!

This time there were 100 women taking part from various parts of the world, all at different stages of fertility treatment/diagnosis. It's quite incredible really to think that although 100 seems a lot, this is just a handful out of thousands (maybe millions?) of people are going through this everyday.
 
The packages this time had to include at least one set of notecards and then the rest could be items for relaxation, hobbies, anything based upon your person's interests.
 
My box came yesterday from Rachel (@baby_maybe ) and she had done an amazing job putting together this package for me.
 
The cards are so unbelievably cute......plus there was, treats/toy for my kitties, birdcage items, a super cute owl mask, earrings, lucky socks, oreo's, rice krispies treats and much more.
I literally can't say thankyou enough.....Rachel you are Fab and Yes I agree we do have the BEST NAME!!! :-)

The Dreams Made Of Glass Shop on Etsy!

Due to popular demand I have made a shop on Etsy to start selling baby dust!

Lots of people in the world of trying for a baby/ infertility use the expression "wishing you lots of baby dust" and I'd seen online that some people give gifts of these charms, etc to others for luck in this process.

I decided to make some myself and send it out to some of the ladies on IG and the response I've had back is overwhelming.

It then got me thinking about people who are on forums and not on Instagram.......maybe they would want babydust too? maybe they would want to buy some for others but not know where to get it!

So I have been on a mission! I've made more of the baby dust, I've created a shop (to the right of your screen > ) and I may even add some other stuff! Getting my thinking cap on now!

Infertility affects women's lives differently based on social class!

I just came across this article which was posted on the Fox News website yesterday. (link below)
It talks about studies which have shown that women from a high social class are affected by infertility differently to those of a lower social class.
It made quite an interesting read but I'm not so sure that I agree... What do you think?

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/08/19/psychology-no-kids-how-infertility-affects-women-lives/

A 25 Day Wait .....

Well you know what they say......If at first don't succeed try again!
That's exactly what I am waiting to do and yes like I said 'WAITING'. I need to start another round of 50mg Clomid but I am still only on day 23 of this stupid, rubbish, failed cycle. If my body was normal and had regular periods then I'd just be waiting on it to show it's face but life isn't that simple is it! So after speaking to the nurse she said that I'd have to wait until day 35 of this cycle, then do a pregnancy test (what's the point? I know I'm not pregnant) and then take Provera for 10 days to bring on a menstrual cycle.
That means that I've got about 25 days until I can start taking Clomid again :(
This whole process is such a boring old waiting game, you wait for AF, you wait for ovulation, you wait for appointments, you wait for results and last but not least you wait in hope for a BFP!! (big fat positive).

I don't wish to be an expert thanks!

I was talking with a friend last night on a social networking site who has quite a few kids and recently had a baby. Whilst talking I told her about the fact that I'd not ovulated this month despite being on Clomid, to which she replied "what's Ovulated?".   I think I was a bit dumb struck at first, in my head I was puzzled and thinking "REALLY? You've had kids and you don't know what ovulated is?". Then it occurred to me that that is probably normal, that is what life is like for those who can just fall pregnant. In fact maybe I was the strange one for knowing what this term means? There is no planning for normal couples apart from "hey lets have a baby", there's no having to now if you're ovulating or not, there's no ovulation sticks loitering around, there's no planning of every single detail.....WOW!

After the conversation I felt quite annoyed. I was like why me? (yes I know I was throwing myself a pity party) Why the hell do I have to learn the ins and outs of conception? the fertile windows?  ovulation? endo thickness? follicle size?

WHY WHY WHY??????

I don't want to be an expert...........I just want a baby!

Such is life !!!

 

But I don't like the rain so I hope it dosen't last long!

I Love this saying!

 

Baby Aspirin for Fertility!

My doctor has advised me to take baby aspirin (which I'd never actually heard of before now).
I came straight home from hospital and started researching for more info on this as I was a bit concerned about taking yet another tablet.
You do start to question if all this medication is actually doing any good!
There's days when I feel like a junkie....I've literally got a handful of tablets to take at a time.
I was quite surprised by the info that I came up with.
Firstly Aspirin is more used in fertility than I expected, in fact it's used in cases of fertility, pregnancy, miscarriage and more!
In my case I need it to build up my womb lining as it is too thin, apparently it increases blood flow to the womb if taken regularly.
Below is a link with some more information regarding Aspirin and how it works for fertility issues.
http://www.babyhopes.com/articles/what-is-baby-aspirin-and-how-is-it-related-to-fertility.html

Whilst reading about this I also came across some information about thin womb lining which said that Clomid is linked with making the lining thin.

"Well that's bloody Typical isn't it?" I thought....I take 1 step forward by taking Clomid and two steps back because not only do I not ovulate on it but it also mucks up my womb! Great just Great!

Clomid Round 1 - Big Fat Fail!

 

8am - Follicle scan in the Maternity Ultrasound Unit.

 

I guess even when you think something has not worked there's that little bit of hope in the back of your mind telling you that you might be wrong.

I did this and then felt worse when told what I knew I would hear!

 

I rocked up at my Ultrasound feeling really really nervous and this time it wasn't because of the procedure, it was because I wanted to hear some good news...that I had responded well to the treatment.

If only life was that simple!

 

First I get into the department and its packed with pregnant women again, (I don't really know why I didn't see that coming, I mean it is a MATERNITY ultrasound unit after all) and then the receptionists are really rude and too busy having a chat to take my papers.

So I give a cough..."helllllllooooooo I am waiting"

Nothing!

Rudeness is not something I take lightly at 8am in the morning, when really nervous, really stressed and slightly hungry!

 

"hello, I've got...."

 

"WE'RE NOT READY YET, TAKE A SEAT"  one of the nurses abruptly tells me.

 

That's pretty much how my day began and ended...abrupt, horrible and miserable.

 

When I eventually did get seen the nurse took me into the room, explained the procedure (which I know well enough by now to talk myself through if need be) and then began.

I could tell from the questions that she was asking that it was not good.

I also heard her mention that the follicles on both sides were small......

 

Afterwards I had to wait an speak with the doctor about the results and it was then that I was told that the follicles were small and that the lining of my womb was too thin!

She mentioned maybe having to have injections to trigger ovulation but we wouldn't need to think about that yet.

 

One thing I've learnt already through this is that I don't listen very well to what I am being told.....I manage to grasp bits and pieces but not all of it.

Maybe I should ask the doctors if I can record the conversation lol

 

In the end the general outcome was that it didn't look like I was going to ovulate and even if I did the womb lining would be too thin, so I have got to take baby aspirin every day now and do another cycle of 50mg Clomid to see if that works!

 

Feeling a little bit deflated!

 

 

Is this working?

I've taken the first lot of Clomid now but I have had no side effects, no pain, no nothing!

Not that I'm complaining or anything, realistically who really wants side effects? Not me ....

I'm just wondering if this is a sign though that it's not worked? I had a really bad headache on the first day so started taking the tablets at night and then nothing, no headaches, no crazy mood swings, no belly pains...zilch, nothing!

I have the Ultrasound at 8am tomorrow so I guess I'll just have to see what happens.